Weegy: The earliest known tool for use in computation
was the abacus, and it was thought to have been
invented in Babylon circa 2400 BCE. Its original
style of usage was by lines drawn in sand with
pebbles. [ This was the first known computer and
most advanced system of calculation known to date - preceding Greek methods by 2,000 years.
Abaci of a more modern design are still used as
calculation tools today. The Antikythera mechanism is believed to be the
earliest known mechanical analog computer.[2] It
was designed to calculate astronomical positions.
It was discovered in 1901 in the Antikythera wreck
off the Greek island of Antikythera, between
Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to circa 100 BC. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did
not reappear until the 14th century, when
mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in
Europe.[3] In the 3rd century CE the South Pointing Chariot
was invented in ancient China. It was the first
known geared mechanism to use a differential
gear, which was later used in analog computers.
The Chinese also invented a more sophisticated
abacus from around the 2nd century BCE, known as the Chinese abacus.[citation needed] Mechanical analog computing devices appeared
again a thousand years later in the medieval
Islamic world. Examples of devices from this period
include the equatorium by Arzachel,[4] the
mechanical geared astrolabe by Abu Rayhan al-
Biruni,[5] and the torquetum by Jabir ibn Aflah.[6] Muslim engineers built a number of Automata,
including some musical automata that could be
'programmed' to play different musical patterns.
These devices were developed by the Banu Musa
brothers[7] and Al-Jazari[8] Muslim
mathematicians also made important advances in cryptography, such as the development of
cryptanalysis and frequency analysis by Alkindus.
[9] When John Napier discovered logarithms for
computational purposes in the early 17th century,
there followed a period of considerable progress
by inventors and scientists in ... (More)

Weegy: The history can be viewed here:
Before 1801 Calculators were the earliest computing devices. They were the only computation tools for long years before the creation of computers. [ 1801 The years that followed were dominated by the use of punched cards for computing. [ The users used to submit programming assignments to a computer center using stacks of cards. The programs used to be queued for processing and execution. 1930 - 1960 Desktop mechanical calculators were built during the 1930s. During the 1950s and the '60s, electronic desktop calculators came up. Analog computational technologies predominated this period. full history is at this site:
] (More)

Weegy: Computers have evolved from the fundamental principles of mathematical calculation and language processing. [ The computing systems of today are an outcome of the efforts and intellect of mathematicians, logicians, linguists and technologists from all over the world. Computer history comprises the evolutionary journey of computing systems, the timeline of operating systems as well as the history behind the development of a wide variety of computer software and hardware.
How did the different types of computers evolve? Here is a brief overview of the progress of computing technology from calculators of the 18th century right up to the modern-day digital portable computers.
Year Technology Used
Before 1801 Calculators were the earliest computing devices. They were the only computation tools for long years before the creation of computers.
1801 The years that followed were dominated by the use of punched cards for computing. The users used to submit programming assignments to a computer center using stacks of cards. The programs used to be queued for processing and execution.
1930 - 1960 Desktop mechanical calculators were built during the 1930s. During the 1950s and the '60s, electronic desktop calculators came up. Analog computational technologies predominated this period.
1940 - 1960 This span of time witnessed the emergence of the digital computing technology. Zuse Z3, ENIAC and EDSAC were some of the early digital computers.
First-generation computers were based on the von Neumann architecture.
The second generation computers were characterized by the replacement of vacuum tube by bipolar transistors. They were composed of printed circuit boards.
After 1960 These years witnessed the development of the third generation computers. They were based on integrated circuits. Computer systems of this period had large storage capacities and high processing powers. Multi-core CPUs became available in the 21st century. Laptops, palmtops, handheld ... (More)